Gas Dryer Burning Smell, Not Lint

Dryer Repair
1

OK, I’ve had excellent luck up to this point repairing appliances with Appliance Parts Pro. But, now I’m a little stumped, and would welcome any help. (This is a little long, but I wanted to be complete.)

A have a pretty basic front-load gas dryer, Whirlpool WGD4800BQ2, about 2 years old. I started getting a burning smell in my clothes, and immediately assumed I needed to clean out some lint.

I emptied the trap, cleaned out the vent, took out the drum, vacuumed the bottom (including around the burner), removed the box and chute, cleaned those, etc. None of it was terribly dirty, but I cleaned out all the lint I could find. In short, there shouldn’t be a lint issue at this point.

The rear drum rollers were a little gummed up. I cleaned those pretty well and got them spinning much better than they were. I intend to replace those, but am waiting to order parts until I figure out if I should be replacing something else, too.

I don’t think it’s a belt/roller/motor issue, as it only happens when the heat is on. When running a fluff air cycle, there’s no smell.

The dryer runs just fine, heats on demand, blows plenty of air out the vent, etc, it’s just stinky when the heat is on.

Any guesses?

2

So, I solved this one, and thought I should share it, in case it helps someone else.

After taking the dryer apart and cleaning everything, the only thing I could find suspicious were the rear drum rollers, which looked slightly worn. I took a gamble and replaced them, as they are a cheap, simply part.

Well, hey, that fixed it. Hooray!

Except the smell came back just 6 weeks later. Boo!

This time, I didn’t know what to do. I was neck-deep in other projects and didn’t have time to deal with the dryer. I wanted to do some research and give it some thought first. And finish painting the bedroom.

Well, it turns out that the fumes from paint, stain, etc. will burn and stink up your clothes. Even when you can’t really smell the fumes anymore, it’s enough to totally stink up a load or two of laundry. Looking back, the last time this happened was probably right about the time I was staining some planks for my basement ceiling.

So, if your dryer makes your clothes smell like burning, and you’ve done some painting recently, just air out the house the best you can for a day or two.

(Just for reference, others have described the burning smell as some combination of burning plastic, bad wiring, and kerosene.)